ALORA WAS ALL FOR A LITTLE PRANK, but the trick Ares had pulled on them was a whole other level. When her and Annabeth had landed on the beach, Ares was there waiting for them. The two girls stood up, brushing the sand away hastily.
"Where is he?" The god asked from a couple metres away, and the girls were happy to keep their distance.
"Who?" Alora asked, trying to act clueless, turning to Annabeth who took a deep breath.
"You know who," ares rolled his eyes and scoffed at the girl. "Jackson. Where is he?"
"Sorry, I don't know a Jackson."
"Cut the games," Ares growled angrily, his patience wearing thin. "Where is Percy Jackson?"
"Oh, Percy!" The girl nodded then slowly started to shake her head. "Yeah, uh we don't know."
Almost right on que, Percy and Grover appeared with a think bright flash. Alora and Annabeth quickly rushed over to them.
"Not to be that person," Alora whispered to the boy as she helped him stand, "but we've got company."
Percy followed her eye line and saw Ares approaching, his gold sword slung over his shoulder. Quickly, Percy uncapped his sword and walked towards Ares while making sure his friends kept a safe distance behind him.
He held his sword up, pointing it directly at Ares.
"Single combat," he announced, making the god chuckle.
"What?" he scoffed, amused.
"What?" the group repeated in disbelief. They knew Percy was a little slow, but they didn't think he was a complete idiot.
"One-on-one," Percy continued confidently, "but i set the terms. If i draw first blood, i keep the bolt and you surrender the helm."
This made Ares laugh maniacally, even more than he did at the diner in Aloras opinion.
"Do you accept?"
"I mean it's your funeral, kid." Ares laughed happily before becoming serious, proving Aloras physcotic allegations. "Although just to be clear, no funeral. Any trace of you leaves a trace of my plan, and we can't have that."
"It wasn't your plan though, was it?" Percy questioned. "It was Kronos. It was his idea to frame Poseidon's kid and steal Hades' helm and Zeus' bolt to start a war."
"Huh?" Alora turned to Grover for an explanation at the same time as Annabeth did, asking, "What?"
"Is that where he got to you, too?" Percy continued, meaning they were left in the dark. "Through your dreams?"
"Gods don't dream, little man." Ares stated angrily, losing his temper.
"My dad does." Alora shrugged, but Ares was already fuming with anger and ignored her.
"No one tells the god of war how to start a fight!" Ares yelled loudly. "And after you die, say hi to your mommy for me."
Annabeth and Grover had to hold Alora back at that comment, knowing that Ares would be able to kill her.
The god advanced quickly, swinging his sword at Percy who swiftly dodged it and ran under his arm. Ares turned around and swung, but Percy jumped back quickly. Ares swung at Percy quickly, and Percy was able to block most of them with his own sword until Ares knocked him down.
Alora was knawing at her lip as she watched the fight, knowing she couldn't step in and help. She silently wished that Percy would somehow find a way to win.
Ares clashed his sword down on Percys harshly, but Percy was able to push back and stand up again. Percy rolled to avoid Ares slash and gained his balance but Ares had knocked his sword from his hand and grabbed him by his shirt collar, flipping him onto the ground.
Annabeth and Grover had to hold back Alora once again.
Percy panted as he tried to stand but Ares kicked him and sent him flying into puddles. The god smirked at the boy on the floor, until the sound of the waves rumbling became louder.
"I warned you." Percy panted as he stood up shakily, the waves growing larger. "If you're not careful, you'll find out... who I am."
The water built up behind Percy and quickly crashed down onto Ares. Alora could stop herself from whooping with pride for the boy, giving him a giant grin and thumbs up which he just had to smile at.
When the wave had washed away, a disheveled Ares was left on the ground, drenched from head to toe. He clawed at the sand to grab his sword but by the time he reached it, it had been too late.
Percy had already clashed his sword against his and slashed him in the leg, causing Ares to groan in pain.
"He did it!" Alora cheered with wide eyes as she shook Annabeth and Grover by the arms. The three of them ran to Percy.
"You okay?" Grover asked quickly. "You hurt?"
Percy shook his head wordlessly.
"And you thought you were just a kid." Annabeth stated, happy her point had been finally proven.
"I told you that you could do it." Alora told him, giving him an 'i told you so look' which made him laugh slightly.
The moment was cut off by Ares' slowly clapping.
"Yay!" He said sarcastically, using his sword to help him stand. "That was so cool. Wanna know what you really won today?"
"Not really, but i bet you're gonna tell us anyways." Alora gave him a blank look that just got ignored.
"An enemy for life." Ares grunted as he grinded his teeth together. "Congrats."
The god started rumbling and turning a shade of gold, which made all four of the quickly turn away.
"Don't look at his true form!" Grover warned as Alora covered her eyes with her hands.
When the ringing subdued, they turned back to see Hades' helm lying in the sand.
"Way to be petty." Alora mumbled as she lifted the helm up. When she turned back around, Percy had already walked off.
Her, Annabeth and Grover quickly followed him to the cabin. The one where Alora and Percy had first met. When they walked up the steps, they saw Alecto inside the cabin talking to Percy, her eyes glued to the helm in Aloras hands.
The girl gave a scared smile, knowing the fury and her weren't exactly bffs making friendship bracelets after Alora killed her sister.
"Hades sent you to retrieve it." Percys question came out as a statement. "That's been your quest all along."
Alecto took a deep inhale as Percy gently took the Helm from Alora, clanking the metal on the wooden table.
"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked, her and Alora extremely confused.
"Living up to my end of the bargain." Percy stated as Alecto lifted the helm. "Tell Hades I expect him to do the same."
The boy took a long pause before speaking again.
"Please."
"Good luck on Olympus." Alecto said smugly as she began to leave. "Perhaps there will still be a world left for your mother to return to."
Alectos words hung in the air after she left.
"What does that mean?" Grover asked the burning question, "'Good luck on..' Dude."
"Perce, no." Alora was quick to shut the idea down.
"I have to." Percy pushed.
"What for?" Annabeth asked rhetorically. "The quest failed. We missed the deadline."
"This is bigger than the quest." Percy stated. "Before we set off, Chiron told me the last war on Olympus kicked off World War Two down here. We have to get Zeus to call it off. Returning the bolt is the only way to get Zeus' attention."
"Percy, you don't want Zeus's attention!" Grover told him like he was crazy and forgot who he was.
"I gotta tell him about Kronos." Percy stated like it was obvious. "Did you see how frightened Hades was about the idea of Kronos coming back? Zeus had to know. Bringing him the bolt might be enough to get him to listen. You three gotta go to camp. Now that we know who Ares and Clarisse were working for, someone has to warn Chiron."
"He'll kill you." Alora said as a lump formed in her throat. She had that stomach churning feeling at the mention of Clarisse, not knowing what to make of it. "You do get that, right? Maybe because he thinks you stole his bolt, or maybe just because you're a forbidden kid. Zeus will never let you leave Olympus alive."
"I'm done running from monsters." Percy told her, his voice vulnerable as he didn't look anywhere but at the girl. "This is too important. I have to try."
Alora shook her head and sighed, trying to push back the emerging tears, "I need some air."
She quickly left the cabin, rushing down the steps and taking a seat on the sand.
"Go talk to her." Annabeth told the blonde, who was looking at the place Alora once stood. "She's not mad, she's afraid. She doesn't want to lose you too, so she's trying to shut it down. Go talk to her."
Percy looked between Annabeth and Grover, who nodded in agreement with her before leaving the cabin. He walked towards Alora, who he swore got more beautiful every second, and took a deep breath as he sat beside her.
"I'm sorry." He apologised immediately. "I don't want to go, but I have to do this, Ally."
"I know." The girl sniffled, looking out at the sea although she could feel Percys stare burning into her skull. "I just don't want to lose you. As much as I hate to feed your ego, you mean a lot to me."
"What ego?" Percy asked, earning a giggle from Alora as she lay her head on his shoulder. "I promise I'll be back, Ally."
"You can't do that," she said sulkingly, "You don't know what's going to happen."
"I'm not leaving you." He said confidently, holding his pinky finger out to the girl he had grown such an attachment to. "Pinky promise."
Alora sighed as she wrapped her own pinky around his, hoping that he was going to be able to keep it although the odds were against him.
"Here," Alora cleared her throat and lifted her head, untying her string necklace that held her beads from camp around her neck. "Take this, for good luck."
The girl leaned forward before he could object and tied the necklace around his neck, so close to him that Percy froze up at the feeling of her warm breath on his cheek. Alora realised their closeness and froze for a second, before pulling back.
"They're my beads from camp," she cleared her throat, gesturing to the necklace. "One for each year I've been there."
Percy looked down at the necklace that he had seen around her neck so often, but now it seemed more full than ever. It made him feel bad for her lifetime at camp all over again. But something distracted him. There was a chunky silver ring that hung from the necklace, one he had never noticed before.
"A gift from my mom." Alora announced as Percy ran his thumb over the engravements on the ring, seeming to read his thoughts. "It was the only thing she left me with at camp, so it's kind of my good luck charm."
Percy nodded as he looked up at Alora, who had tears brimming her icy blue eyes. Those eyes that Percy could spend forever in. Alora had been abandoned and pushed aside her whole life and he swore he would never do that to her. He had to come back for her.
He jolted a little as the girl wrapped her arms around his torso, her chin leaning on his shoulder. He instantly hugged back tightly, as if he was afraid of her fading away.
"Don't die on me, seaweed brain." she muttered quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.
"I wouldn't dream of it, sunshine."
em speaks:
triple upd-ate!! guys i felt very productive so heres a treat for me depriving yall for so long!! 2000 word long chapter guys!! im also like very sleep deprived rn so if there is any spelling or grammar mistakes pls ignore🙏🙏 the next chapter is gonna be the last and i might write it tmr if i get the chance and if not it wont be here till after wednesday😢 im actually feeling so upset that this is nearly over but yall will get that big sob next chapter dw 😘😘 love yall💞